Unison unelected officials, not even employed by Barts Health Trust or Serco, have put out a leaflet that attacks Unite the Union and the Socialist Party following the deal that concluded the recent Barts dispute

Socialist Party members from Tyneside defied an outrageous ban imposed by Newcastle Unites (NU) to join a counter-demo against the far-right English Defence league on 24 September. With our Socialist Party banner and placards held high we were the most distinct group on the march.

Michael Crick's book 'Militant' was first published in 1984. Why has it now been re-issued 32 years later? For the very same reason that it was published in the first place: to provide ammunition for attacking the emerging left, writes Peter Taaffe.

The Northern Ireland Assembly election was a dull and uneventful affair. The result has brought little change. Yet there were significant signs that the growing alienation from sectarianism, austerity and backward social policies is beginning to find a positive expression.

The Socialist Party in England and Wales, and the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) are the two largest organisations on the 'Marxist left' in Britain. Therefore, in a period when the left in general has been weakened - as a, consequence of the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the ideological offensive that flowed from this, combined with the neo-liberal fuelled boom - there are many who argue 'why can't you forget your differences and combine to unite yourselves and the left in a real alternative?'
Socialism and Left Unity, by Peter Taaffe, attempts to answer this question.

We have sought to demonstrate in this analysis of the past and present policies of the Socialist Workers Party, that unless they change they will be found wanting in the new period we are entering, both in Britain and internationally...

The issues of racism and fascism, and how to combat them and the far-right British National Party (BNP) - which has, in its leadership, fascist elements - has recently assumed greater importance in Britain...

To many who experienced the past sectarian behaviour of the SWP combined with abstract propaganda - 'One solution, revolution!' - the seeming metamorphosis to a 'broad' approach in this decade was a revelation...

An examination of their role in a number of key industrial battles in the past number of years shows how flawed is their method, both in winning support for their point of view but also the lack of understanding in the relationship between ad hoc unofficial union organisations from below...

The SWP's increasingly opportunist turn in this century has been accompanied by an exaggeration of the importance and the scale of practically every social movement that has taken place in the last decade...

If they were to answer that North Vietnam was more 'progressive', then how to explain their position at the time of the collapse of the Berlin Wall, when the liquidation of the planned economy in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union was, for them, not a great negative historical turning point...

ONE ISSUE dominates all others for the workers' movement now and for the foreseeable future - how to defeat the avalanche of cuts and tax rises that is engulfing us, writes Hannah Sell, Socialist Party deputy general secretary.